ispoort and the Janspoort collapsed during the fighting.
In the beginning of July the Prince of Orange assembled an army of 5,000 soldiers near Leiden to free Haarlem. The Spanish trapped them at the Manpad and defeated the army. After seven months the city surrendered on 13 July 1573. Many soldiers of the army that defended the city were slaughtered; many of them were drowned in the Spaarne river. Governor Ripperda and his lieutenant werebeheaded. The citizens were allowed to buy freedom for themselves and the city for 240,000 guilders and the city was required to host a Spanish garrison. Don Fadrique thanked God for his victory in the Sint-Bavo Church.
Great fire
The city suffered a large fire in the night from 22 October to 23 October 1576. The fire started in brewery het Ankertje, near the weighhouse at the Spaarne, which was used by German mercenaries as a guarding place. When they were warming themselves at a fire it got out of control. The fire was spotted by farmers, who sailed their ships on the river. However, the soldiers turned down all help, saying that they would put out the fire themselves. This failed, and the fire destroyed almost 500 buildings, among them St-Gangolf's church and St-Elisabeth's hospital. Most of the mercenaries were later arrested, and one of them was hanged on the Grote Markt in front of a large audience. Maps from that era clearly show the damage done by the fire: a wide strip through the city was destroyed.
The combined result of the siege and the fire was that about a third of the city was destroyed.
Golden age
The fire and the long siege had taken their toll on the city. The Spanish left in 1577 and under the Agreement of Veere, Protestants and Catholics were given equal rights, though in government the Protestants clearly had the upper hand and Catholic possessions once seized were never returned. To
